Suspect in Restaurant Grand Theft Dies in Hospital

Joseph Patrick Cairns, whose heart condition led to his surrender on charges of grand theft from a Buena Park restaurant after 2 1/2 years on the run, died in custody Sunday at Western Medical Center-Anaheim, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman said.

The official cause of death will not be known until an autopsy can be conducted, but authorities said Cairns’ death may have resulted from his previous heart condition.

Cairns, 60, was being held in connection with a $150,000 theft in 1989 of weekend receipts from Medieval Times restaurant in Buena Park, where he was the night auditor.

Police unsuccessfully searched in several California cities and scoured La Vegas casinos for Cairns in the months after the theft. Police said Cairns’ fondness for gambling was the apparent motive for the crime.

In October, Cairns was admitted to a Fullerton hospital with a heart condition and passed word to police that he was ready to surrender.

Cairns was booked on grand theft charges on Oct. 30 at Orange County Jail and the next day admitted to Western Medical Center-Anaheim where he underwent a triple bypass heart surgery, Sheriff’s Lt. Robert Rivas said.

He was transferred to the county’s Theo Lacy jail on Nov. 18 but was readmitted to Western Medical Center-Anaheim on Nov. 21, where he remained until his death, Rivas said. Cairns lapsed into a coma about 4 a.m. Sunday with his wife and a daughter at his bedside.

As is customary in jail deaths, the district attorney’s office will conduct an investigation as will the Sheriff’s Department, Rivas said. An autopsy will be performed today.

A Medieval Times spokesman said Sunday that he had been unaware of Cairns’ death and did not know if any of the stolen money had been recovered.